Japanese Scene News & Notes: Updates on Takashi Uchiyama, Masao Nakamura, plus more...

Sidney Boquiren of RingwalkNippon has the latest Japanese boxing news and notes.  For more updates, you can follow Sidney on twitter: RingwalkNippon@Twitter

Negotiations with Solis fail, Uchiyama to face Mukhils

Unable to finalize negotiations with interim titleholder Jorge Solis, Takashi Uchiyama announced Friday he will be facing Roy Mukhils. The WBA Super Featherweight champ attempts to make the second defense of his crown on September 20, at Saitama Super Arena’s Community Arena.

Mukhils, rated by the WBA #5 and the WBC #3, is being described as a boxer-puncher who throws in volume and carries the ring name "The Sniper". Having held three different regional titles, the Indonesian has been idle since his last bout in October 2009, waiting for a world title opportunity.

Though Mukhils sports a decent record (23-2-2, 18KO) and KO percentage (66.67%), a showdown between the talented Uchiyama and Solis would have been much more welcome. A former world title challenger that did fairly well against Manny Pacquiao in the early rounds of their 2007 bout, Solis was last seen taking a unanimous decision over Mario Santiago in May. Sankei Sports reported that discussions fell apart when the two camps could not come to terms financially.

Uchiyama told Daily Sports Online, "I hope to show an advanced level of boxing, as I have done up until now. I would think my opponent will be motivated, so I will not let my guard down."

Nakamura’s streak rolls to 11KOs

Undefeated Super Featherweight prospect Masao Nakamura over-powered Ryota Kajiki over eight rounds yesterday and scored his 11th pro victory, all by stoppages. Working behind a sharp jab, the 22-year old, currently ranked #4 in the nation, turned it on in the sixth and trapped his opponent along the ropes several times according to Daily Sports Online. The fight was stopped 58 seconds after the start of the eighth stanza as Kajiki’s corner had seen enough.

Despite the five losses on his record coming into the ring, Kajiki (15-6, 9KO) has fought fairly good opposition, including Ryol li Lee and prospect Toru Suzuki. Going rounds with the tough young vet may have been a good experience for Nakamura, who is now targeting the national and regional titleholders for his next bout. If the prospect can lure Japanese champ Takashi Miura into the ring, the fight would be explosive as both men are heavy-handed and can bang.

More Boxing Notes

• Jorge Linares looked fairly comfortable testing out the waters above Super Featherweight, knocking down Rocky Juarez in the fifth en route to a UD yesterday. An article in the latest issue of Boxing Beat states that should he beat Juarez, Linares’ co-promoters at Golden Boy would offer him an opportunity at Lightweight, suggesting the possibility of taking on the winner of Sunday’s main event – Juan Manuel Marquez. While Amir Khan and Michael Katsidis seem to be the two front-runners as opponents for the master boxer, this writer would be very intrigued by a Marquez-Linares matchup.
• That said, Marquez-Khan would be a much bigger fight and Katsidis has some name-value, so unless GBP really goes at it for Linares, he probably will not be the one across the ring from Marquez in his next bout. Teiken, his main promoter, has him scheduled (for now) for their October card headed by Toshiaki Nishioka versus Rendall Munroe. In regards to the possibility of challenging for his old belt currently held by Uchiyama, Linares told Boxing Beat in the same article, "I am not sure that Uchiyama really wants to face me. If he does, (then instead of waiting until next year) I’ll take him on tomorrow."
• Speaking of Nishioka, the WBC Super Bantamweight strapholder was in Wales over the weekend to participate in the WBC Night of Champions. At the event, he met his future opponent for the first time. Picture here.
• Nishioka’s gym mate, Takahiro Ao, also made his way to the event to introduce himself to current 130lb titleholder Vitali Tajbert. In May, it was reported that the German, after beating Hector Velazquez, would face Humberto Mauro Gutierrez in a rematch of their November 2009 contest. Ao had been lined up to face the winner of that bout, but it seems that there has been changes to the timing of the fights. The former Featherweight champ may get his chance at Tajbert sooner. His representatives at Teiken, however, only say that they would have negotiations with the German side in the future.
• Lastly, Hozumi Hasegawa has been cleared for sparring by his doctors. Though he has been in the gym for weeks, he has been training with minimal contact but was given the green light to start full contact later in the month.

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